Celebrating Zane
by Ayumira
Summary: [Each ninja gazes out above the city, seeing its veins and scars from the battle where they lost him ...] Snow now blankets the ground in Ninjago, but there's no Christmas spirit in the ninja with Zane gone ... physically ... until they hear word from Cyrus Borg about their lost brother. But some wounds never heal ...
1. Morning's Eve

Snow was the first thing that greeted him as he woke, the pale glow reflected off the fine white powder filtering through the shades. Blearily, he rolled over, feeling the cold air sting his face above his sheets as he pulled his bedding over his head.

Snow.

_Ice._

The thought jabbed at him, and he sat up almost instantly.

_Zane._

Lloyd heaved a sigh, swinging his legs out of bed and dropping down from the top bunk. The dark pine boards creaked under his feet as he landed with a thud. Straightening up, he took a look at the other slumbering ninja before allowing his gaze to flit up to his bunk.

_Zane._

The bunk used to belong to the Ninja of Ice, and Lloyd had his individual bed on the ground. But now that Zane was gone, Lloyd took his place. It just wasn't the same without him, though.

He walked over to the small, shuttered window, pressing his hand against the glass and watching the light flurries of pristine white flakes drifting innocently down. Just like after the battle. A still-dark night was the snow's backdrop, cold stars twinkling behind the little blooms of ice.

Every night, every day, every second felt different without their brother.

He definitely wished he was here.

Drawing a sigh, he pulled his cold hand away from the window and stumbled into the bathroom, fumbling among the drawers with fingers numb and half-asleep for a comb. After slamming quite a few drawers shut, finding Kai's cosmetic gels, Jay's toothpaste, and random packages of cake (probably Cole's) before discovering his own comb at the bottom of the fifth drawer.

He picked it up, attempting to yank it through his tousled, wavy blonde hair before giving up. Looking up into the mirror, Lloyd examined his reflection. Emerald eyes, smooth skin, messy hair. He sighed, tossing the comb down onto the sink before striding out of the bathroom.

He crossed the Bounty II's deck, spinning into his green uniform as he walked through the frigid air towards the dining room. As he slid open the panel, he was greeted by the two Sensei, Misako, Pixal, and Nya, who had been deep in conversation mere seconds before he'd entered.

"Merry Christmas," Nya called over to him, tossing a small, hooked object at Lloyd. He instinctively caught it, inches away from his face. Opening his hand, he examined it to find it was a candy cane. A white, red-striped candy cane.

A _candy cane._

"... It's ... Christmas ...?" He asked uncertainly. The days seemed to be timeless, his perception of the ticking clock on the wall always a haze, wishing it could just go _backward, rewind_, just to the point where he hadn't been gone yet, just _REWIND_ the time, just so _he didn't die._

"Christmas Eve, but it's morning." Pixal replied shortly, clearly impatient.

_Pixal._

Why was she here? Shouldn't she be at Borg Industries? When Lloyd asked her, she simply smiled a hollow smile and told him to wake up the other ninja. "You'll see soon enough," She'd told him, before turning away with a sweep of her eminence-hued robes.

Once he'd actually gotten the guys up ["Lloyd, It's still dark!"] ["Go awa - IT'S _CHRISTMAS?_!"] ["Shuddup..."] and waited for them to dress and get ready, they all went for the dining room. When they actually got there, however, Pixal had already left, leaving a small note in her wake.

"What's this?" Kai yawned, picking the small sheet of parchment off the low table. The other ninja crowded around him, attempting to read it with him through weary eyes.

"... Come to Borg Tower ..."

"He'll be happy to see you ..."

"... Remember he's only just woken up ..."

Jay frowned, a small crease forming between his eyebrows. "Who?" He asked dubiously. The other guys shrugged, although behind their backs Nya and the adults exchanged a knowing glance, filled with anticipation.

* * *

><p>The Bounty II's streamlined hull plowed through the pearly clouds as the dawn light filled the skies, illuminating the snow and the air, flashing off the many metallic surfaces of New Ninjago City. Borg Tower especially.<p>

Nya's steady hands brought their warship down on the helipad landing perched on top of Borg Tower, landing it firmly with a light thump. Snow flew as the thrusters finally powered down, melting with a fine hiss under the fire and heat.

The ninja stood on the deck, hoods down and hair blowing the the occurring breeze. Each gazed out at the city still bearing scars from a certain battle, each gazing out at their stories in the city. Different, but same, all of them shared one that haunted them still.

_Have you really gone? Have you really gone?_

Each pair of distant eyes and each distant mind came back to the present when Pixal glided out from the the double doors, welcoming them. "Mister Borg is waiting for you in his office." She told them, a ghost of a smile etched on her face, voice clear but emotionless.

Her eyes, though, glowed with barely veiled joy and hope, something no one saw.

As the ninja and their accomplices filed off the the Bounty via extendable deck, Lloyd could've sworn he'd just seen a flash of ash-blonde hair and a crystalline blue eye vanish around the building corner far, far below.

* * *

><p>"Ah," Cyrus Borg greeted the ninja as they descended from the roof into his spacious office, while their companions went one floor lower into the waiting room. "You have come, and just on time, too." He spun his wheelchair around (due post OverBorg trauma, he was now somewhat afraid of his mechanical legs) and wheeled himself towards them, all business. "I called you all here today because of a very mysterious occurrence. You all know how the Overlord," at this he turned around, where a large piece of hastily taped tarp covered the gaping hole in the glass. "Infiltrated the system as a virus, and, thanks to you all, he has been eradicated both physically and," he paused, "Technologically."<p>

They all nodded hesitantly.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" Cole asked suspiciously. The leader of the ninja had his arms crossed over his black uniform - not out of hostility, but probably out of cold. The tarp, although taped over the hole, did not stop the cold from leaking in, and Cole, unfortunately, was standing closest to it.

"Excellent question." The inventor stated, piloting his chair over to his desk. "After his defeat, the factory machinery was been acting strangely. The doors were always locked, and they wouldn't open without a code I did not have." A rustle made Cyrus pause, looking nervously over his shoulder. The tarp had fallen to the ground in a crumpled heap, allowing a fresh gust of frosty air to fly into the room, carrying a bout of snowflakes into his office. Undeterred, he merely clapped his hands twice and a battalion of robots flocked to restore it.

Lloyd fidgeted uncomfortably, wondering what Cyrus Borg's point was.

"However," Borg continued, "Pixal approached me and informed me of a wondrous thing being built on the conveyor in the locked room. She confessed she had set the codes and walls to protect what was being built." The droid nodded at this, her viridescent eyes flickering. "Now, after many months and months of toil, I am proud to say he has come back from the digiverse."

"Who?" Lloyd asked.

Borg simply smiled. "Look up, ninja."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Whoop! This is based off a headcanon that I (and probably tons of other people) have.<strong>_

_**Merry Christmas! I got my little sister a full Ninjago LEGO set (she's the one that got me hooked, haha) that cost around 400$. I guess it's also a thank-you gift to her for making me like a child's cartoon for the FIRST time ever, not to mention it was a lego one. **_

_**Regardless, I'll post the second chapter tomorrow, and more if possible. Have a holly jolly holiday!**_


	2. Silent Night

_Look up, ninja._

Cyrus Borg's words echoed in his mind as he stared at something that could not be possible, surely not possible, impossible, yet it was perched right above his head with a warm, welcoming smile in a face he knew oh-so-well.

Lloyd's head felt somewhat light as nostalgia and many other emotions flooded him, because it surely was impossible that it was possible. Right now. It just wasn't a reality, did not match with reality, it just could _not_ be.

His brother should not be alive.

"... Zane ...?" He asked uncertainly, certain it was a cruel trick or joke, or a vision, or some sort of hologram, because _Zane should not be alive._

Yet he was, standing above their head on an invisible staircase of glass and air, smiling warmly to greet the ninja, crystalline blue eyes shining with the radiance of a thousand lights of happiness.

White robes bedecked his slender-yet-tall frame, embroidered with gentle hints of silver and blue, his trademark snow-and-ice insignia pinned onto his chest.

His skin was just a bit more translucent, and as he subtly tilted his head the dawn sun shone through the wide glass windows and briefly illuminated a circuit within his face, yet it wasn't disturbing. His tufted, pale, platinum-blonde hair stood slightly on end, shining in the morning sun.

"Zane ..."

"_Zane?!_"

"... Zane?"

The other ninja echoed him, with exclamations and cries of disbelief and hope and shock, watching their lost brother descend from his perch. Not daring to touch him, they were afraid that reality was different, afraid that an illusion made his ethereal smile and gentle movements real, afraid he didn't exist.

He stopped feet away from the ninja, a welcoming smile upon his face, arms spread wide in a quizzically silent embrace to them all. Lloyd simply watched him, dumbstruck, as the other ninja stayed in a stony silence not unlike his own.

_Zane was alive._

Lloyd cleared the distance between his brother and himself with two long strides, throwing his arms around Zane, burying his face into his shoulder, feeling silent tears run down his face, seeping into the alabaster gi he was clad in, feeling his body racked with silent spasms of joy.

Another ninja - Jay - joined them, throwing his arms around the two taller ninja and and pulling them close, yelling, laughing, crying, brothers once again.

Yet another pair of arms wrapped themselves around the kin, and it was Cole, smiling, grinning, silent happiness in his embrace as he joined them.

Kai stood aloof, shocked, watching them.

_Zane was alive?_

Slowly, he moved towards his brothers, enfolding them all with his trembling clasp.

Brothers, indeed.

* * *

><p>He laced his fingers with hers, one last time, before dropping his hand.<p>

"Will I see you again, soon?" Pixal asked anxiously, as the last light of the sunset reflected off her silvery hair and the wintry breeze whipped it around her face. Her hand, still partially extended, clenched as she brought it back to her side.

Zane nodded, a consoling smile on his lips as he turned away, stepping gracefully up the deck of the Destiny's Bounty (II) towards his fellow ninja, who were already peering anxiously off the deck. It folded up in his wake, away from the ground.

Pixal watched in lonely silence as the ship rose into the sky.

* * *

><p>"Your cooking hasn't gone bad, either," Jay complimented the snowy nindroid, a mug of steaming chocolate in his hands. Nya sat by his side, nestled into a small mountain of blankets.<p>

The entire team was settled around the Christmas tree standing in the living room, its bright lights filling the room with a serene warmth as fine, powdery snow drifted down outside the windows.

The Ninja of Ice nodded silently, continuing to distribute the mugs of cocoa to the ninja. Lloyd watched him out of the corner of his eye. Zane hadn't been talking much, only with smiles and nods and gestures all the while as he stood by Cyrus and Pixal's side as they told how he'd been revived into the flesh again.

Come to think of it, he hadn't been talking at _all_. Although the ice-wielder was usually silent and calm, he was too aloof. Too quiet.

Lloyd dismissed it. It was Christmas, after all.

Not the time to doubt old friends.

* * *

><p>Yawns and groans filled the room as the ninja (and Nya) stood up, ushered on by the two sensei ["Sleeping is healthy."] ["Rest, now, my students."] to sleep. It was almost midnight, as they'd sat around the tree and chattered on through the hours, regardless of the intensifying snow outside.<p>

They'd been happy; blissfully happy, joyous like they'd never been in weeks since Zane had sacrificed himself. But for one night, they were happy. Happy in the Silent Night.

And far below them the many voices of the many people carried up in the thinnest of threads, a song revered throughout time and celebration.

* * *

><p><em>Silent Night,<em>

_Holy Night,_

_All is calm, all is bright._

_Round yon virgin, mother and child_

_Holy infant, tender and mild_

_Sleep in heavenly peace_

_Sleep in heavenly peace._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Two down, two to go. This one was kinda short and rushed, but I was building gingerbread houses at the same time, and ... (long story short, I can't multitask.)<em>**

**_How was your Christmas day? I got perfume (um, ew) and gave my little sister THE 400$ lego ninjago set. She made me put it together with her, and I have to say I'm mortally afraid of Techno Kai now._**

**_Why? _**

**_The package was stuck, so when we finally got it to open the Techno Kai figurine shot out and pegged me straight between the eyes. Ow. It hurt like &%*$# _**

**_But, regardless, please R&R and enjoy the rest of your Christmas._**


	3. Remember Me?

**_I'm not done yet, but I got lazy. SO here's the first half of the chapter, fresh off the press._**

**_Update: 1/18/2015: I got lazier. SO, here's the first two-thirds of the chapter, hot off the press. [I know, right?]_**

**_2nd Update: 1/18/2015: DONE. FINALLY DONE. Don't forget to R&R~_**

* * *

><p>The faint sound of ringing bells drifted up from the ground as the airborne ship floated above a small albeit lively village.<p>

The ninja, however, slept on, even as the fingers of dawn hoisted itself above the horizon, casting its bright rays of radiant sunlight upon the pale, shimmering snow that glimmered with the spectrum of lights.

Well, every ninja except for one.

Zane stood mutely at the circular window in the bridge, watching a scene unfold beneath them of a small, serene village. His crystalline blue eyes glimmered, just like the snow so far below, as he gazed down.

The nindroid would've sighed if he could.

A loud bang disrupted him from his thoughts, but his reaction was simple. Zane tilted his head, glancing in just the slightest over to the door, cocking his head whimsically in the calmest way possible. He glimpsed Jay, Kai, Cole, and Lloyd, all still in their pajamas - he was already in his sweeping white robes - holding gifts. Jay and Lloyd looked wide awake, while Kai and Cole had bloodshot eyes and dark bags under them. Behind them stood Nya, the two Sensei, and Misako, surprisingly wide-awake and chipper.

"Did you sleep at all, Zane?" Jay asked. He just shook his head. "Do robots even need sleep?"

Zane shook his head, doubtfully, a confused look on his pale face.

"Why aren't you talking?" The snowy ninja raised an eyebrow, as if asking '_is that even_ _relevant?_'

Jay shrugged. "Beats me. We're all gonna be in the living room opening gifts - oh, and thanks for the food." Zane nodded. He'd left a meal on the table for the rest of them when they got up; they'd probably be too tired to cook (true for Kai and Cole, not so much for the others) after spending the rest of their day shopping in Ninjago City.

As the others filed out the door, Kai paused. "Zane," He called. The spiky-haired ninja gave him a small smile. "Next time, we'll be there for you." The door slammed in Kai's wake as he left to be with the others.

Zane turned back to the window.

* * *

><p>"Fritz Donnegan comics?" Lloyd asked, peering through the thin packaging on his gift. "Thanks, Jay."<p>

"Sweet! Cake!" Cole yelped happily - his present was just a bakery box with a sticky note pasted on top that read _Cole_, but the Ninja of Earth didn't seem to care. Him and cake, cake and him.

"Cool! Cyrus Borg's newest NetPad model!" Jay hit the _on_ button, but it didn't do anything. "WHa?"

"Look at the instructions, motormouth."

"... a toothbrush." Kai took a look at his gift doubtfully. "Why a toothbrush?"

Lloyd glanced over. "That's not what we got you, Kai. Look under the tree again. No, that's Nya's gift. No, that's for Misak - DON'T TOUCH THAT ONE!"

"Here." The ninja all glanced over to the doorway, where Zane stood, holding a large, gift-wrapped box. "That is my gift to you, Kai." The nindroid set the box down next to the red ninja. "This is their gift to you."

"Why would you get me a toothbrush?" Kai asked, just as Jay butted in.

"Is your funny switch on?"

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Funny switch?" He asked. "I got Kai a toothbrush because I remembered." The ice ninja stood alone in the doorway, stance rigid, his gaze slightly challenging in a mild, observing way.

"Remembered what, Zane?" Cole asked the snowy ninja.

"The time we met, he attacked us with a toothbrush." Zane replied monotonously, his tone somewhat aloof and detached.

"Heh," the fire ninja grinned, reminiscing on the _old _days and pushing back the bewilderment. Kai wasn't sure what to say as he watched Zane sweep out of the room again, silent and cold, but he did know what he wanted to _do_. "Wait up!" He yelled, quite suddenly, dropping both gifts (one unwrapped, the other not) and dashing out of the room, down the hall, and onto the deck where the frigid air nipped at his face and nose.

"Yes?" Zane asked blankly, turning to Kai with a vacant look in his crystalline eyes. "What do you want?"

Taken aback, Kai opened his mouth silently before closing it again, speechlessly. It was as if his tongue had become a rock refusing to move, and when he finally found his words they were spoken uncertainly and quietly. "Why me?" When the snowy ninja didn't answer, he tried again. "Why did you remember to get something for me and no one else?"

He gave Kai a faint look. "What else is there to remember?"

* * *

><p>"Ah," Cyrus Borg breathed as his fingers fluttered over his keyboard, quick and graceful like a butterfly's wings. "I see," he added as he scanned the diagrams with bespectacled eyes. Just once in a while, he would glance hastily over at Zane, who was perched gracefully on a chair with his eyes serenely closed and a faint smile on his face, his chest-panel propped open and ensnared with wires linking his database to Borg's computer.<p>

"See what?" Jay demanded indignantly, waving his arms around in impatience. "See _what_? We finally know Zane's alive to realize he barely remembers us?"

"Patience," Borg snapped back at him. "PIXAL, can you run a few more tests on the system?" He asked his metallic assistant, who was wringing her silvery hands and biting her lip, the worry in her vivid green eyes unmistakable. She nodded soundlessly before hurrying across the room to her own complex of computers.

Lloyd didn't blame her. Zane's lover was probably frantic; if he didn't remember her ...

It hurt him, too, knowing Zane didn't even remember him. Zane didn't know anything ... anymore ...

"Alright!" The charismatic inventor exclaimed, interrupting Lloyd's brooding. Cyrus Borg pushed his wire-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose, swiveling his wheelchair around to face them. "I've got news, but I don't think you'll like it."

They nodded, eagerly, waiting ...

"He's lost most of his memory. I can view what's left, but apparently the most recent one for him - besides being with you - is when you four first received your ninja suits." Cyrus sighed. "I'm sorry, but he barely knows you at all."

At that point, they exploded - well, Jay and Kai literally did, but the rest of their reactions weren't pretty either. "WHAT?" Jay shrieked, while Kai was yowling and Cole was attempting to speak, but his voice was drowned out by his brothers. Lloyd stood in stunned silence while the Sensei, Nya, and Misako attempted to calm them down.

"Wait!" The inventor held up his hands defensively. "I can incorporate him into the DigiVerse again to retrieve his memory, but he will have to go _alone._"

Although unhappy with the idea, they finally obliged.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen over Ninjago city, but the Borg Tower was far from restless.<p>

Within Cyrus' shadowy office, a lithe figure darted back and forth among the darkness, it's nimble hands rummaging through the desks and drawers and machinery until its fingers pried out a hard-drive, tucking it beneath its cloak and vanishing into the night wind. As it leapt from the high window, the stranger's cloak fluttered up for just a moment before flapping over again, revealing a _purple snake tattoo. _

* * *

><p><em><strong>Finally. done. So I guess this is an AU-y view on how Chen acquired Zane's consciousness to taunt the ninja to come to his island, so I suppose this is just a theory fic.<strong>_

_**R&R, enjoy, 'cause this is DONE.**_

_**Oh, and I'm starting a [rebellious] readerxninja fic in WHICH I will also take specific OCxNinja requests; so I'll write a fluffy ship-fic about a ninja & your OC. PM me if you're interested.**_


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